There are a few things that I want to accomplish personally in my journey of life. What I am currently working on is getting myself into the habit of reducing what I use (the whole reduce, recycle, reuse and I think that reduce is the most important). I am a former pack-rat and I am trying to rehabilitate myself
This weekend was the first experiment in Vagabonding, my new passion. Vagabonding basically is exploring your surroundings in a very non evasive low impact way. A lot of walking, a lot of bargaining, basically getting into your settings, and just having fun.
Orange Beach, Alabama, USA -
I have already been to many many places, which I will eventually get into, but this was one of the most fun, most beautiful, hot, and best travel spots I have been to.
The beaches were clean and sandy, almost no rocks at all. The atmosphere was very fun, and laid back, and as close to a Jimmy Buffett song as I can imagine. We visited a few hot spots sat on the beach a lot, watched feeding time at Alligator Alley, and packed it all into three nights and three days (I wont count the first day since we pretty much got there and fell asleep.
Total cost $348 (all included)
Total time - Late Thursday night until Sunday morning.
Travel - Two people, Ford Explorer from Nashville Tennessee, Approximately 6 1/2 hours of driving
How? We stayed at the Gulf Shores State park. A great state park across the main street from the beach. It was hot, but not terribly bad, there was little shade so I would bring some shade with you in the form of a canopy. We brought most of our food from home in a single cooler. I don’t know about you but when it is hot and I am on vacation I really don’t need a whole lot to eat. We had some packaged meat, fruit, energy bars, and some meat to grill. We took along the Coleman Road Trip Party Grill for cooking.
It is not like we never went out to eat. We went to the Flori-Bama grill and oyster bar. Great time, if you have not heard of it you need to go there and check it out. We also went to Tacky Jacks on the Bayou. A great and not overly expensive place. Finally we went to Lamberts Cafe. Still kept it under $400 for the weekend.
Most of our activities did not cost money. We spend a lot of time walking the beaches, and exploring Orange Beach by car. We would stop at a harbor and just walk around.
Clothes - Two swim trunks, two shorts, three t-shirts, one nice polo, three pair underwear, two pairs of socks, pair of athletic shoes, pair of sandals, one beach towel, one bath towel.
One Bag for miscellaneous items (flashlight, bug spray, sun screen, etc).
That is it. With a little research and planning you can pack easily for where you are going. We knew that we did not need anything special for going out, it was clearly a beach and harbor town, we knew that we would spend a lot of time on the beach (no need for a lot of pairs of underwear or t-shirts or socks). We did not need a lot of toys.
Simplicity is everything. It is much more enjoying to have a nice calm weekend, exploring and becoming one with the area. That is what Vagabonding is about.
Now don’t get me wrong. I looked into getting a hotel or a condo for the weekend. It just did not work out, and in the end camping seemed like it would be more enjoyable and it was. We spent no time in an air conditioned room watching tv. We spent morning, noon, and night on the beach, at a bar, in the ocean, or walking along a trail. It was simply the best way to spend the time.
So I am now rambling. The moral is this. It is time for us to reduce. There is no need for extra stuff, no need for luxuries, no need to spend extra money and time doing what is not important. What is important is having a nice simple vacation, under nice simple conditions enjoying what we are there for, the beach, the parties, the atmosphere. Not getting a condo or a hotel made us completely comfortable spending all our time out side. It let us explore the land, not the resort, and let us get out of it what we needed, a chance to unplug, unwind, and get ready for the next part, for me Coaching football, for Karen Teaching School, also to get focused on a strong push to get my business going, and in full momentum. If it was a time to have fun and go to a resort, we would go to a resort, but we wanted to go to the ocean and have fun, and it was a Vagabonding experience.
Conceive It, Believe It, Achieve It
Coach Kip
